Math whiz is Concord's 2018 Honored Citizen

Wednesday

Jim Terry said, “I enjoy figures,” and he has applied that skill serving on several town boards and committees through the years.

Terry recently got the call that he’d been selected by the Public Ceremonies and Celebrations Committee as its choice for 2018 Honored Citizen, and he assumed it called to ask him if he would serve as parade marshal for next month’s Patriots’ Day Parade.

Terry, 73, said “older citizens” normally become parade marshal, so since he falls in the demographic, he thought that’s why the committee called him.

Many volunteer hats

John Arena, committee chairman, said Terry was the committee’s choice because he has worn many volunteer hats in town, including leading a town delegation to Nanae, Japan, Concord’s sister city, when Terry served as chairman of the Select Board.

Arena said what really impressed him about Terry is he continues volunteering in local affairs after serving on the Select Board, considered the mountaintop of public service in Concord.

Terry moved to Concord with his wife, Judy, a few months after the Blizzard of 1978. He joined the Finance Committee after coaxing from Judy, because she believed he was great with numbers.

“His financial acumen is quite remarkable,” Judy said.

After the Finance Committee, Terry served on the Planning Board, and was elected to the Select Board.

There were two openings on the board at the time, and Terry was one of two candidates, which he said was ideal because “I’m not a political person” who likes to run for office.

After the Select Board, Terry served on several school building committees, and he had a hand in the new Alcott and Willard elementary schools, plus improvements at Thoreau Elementary School.

Continues volunteering

Terry is retired from his actuarial career, and public service is still in his blood. He tutors math twice a week at a Boston high school, and he and Judy volunteer at Open Table, a food pantry with operations in Concord and Maynard.

“It keeps you young,” Terry said of his decision to continue volunteering. “It’s a reason to get up in the morning and not goof off.”

Judy said her husband “absolutely deserves” the title of 2018 Honored Citizen, and he will be honored in a ceremony March 24 at 1:30 p.m. in the Harvey Wheeler Community Center.